Book 3 — Making Round Rods for Fish Poles
Reading edition
In looking forward to the enjoyment that may be had in the spring, it is well to prepare and overhaul the fishing apparatus or the shooting equipment. In doing so, it may be necessary to make a joint for the fish rod or perhaps a rod for the gun. These can be easily cut if they are sized and run through holes made in a piece of thin metal as follows: Make several holes of the desired sizes in a steel plate, and ream them out with a rather dull taper reamer, so as to leave a bur on one side. This bur should be filed down almost level with the surface of the metal, leaving the edges flat and sharp. If a rod of wood from which the article is to be made is put in a hole and drawn through from the opposite side to the bur, a nice round rod will result. As the rod becomes smaller, use a smaller hole until the required diameter is obtained. A saw plate that is not too thin is about the proper thing to use for the steel plate. It will be necessary to draw the temper to make the holes, but it is not necessary to retemper it after the holes are made.
¶Celery keeps well in a small box of dry sand.
